Japan scientist uses egg white for clean energy

TOKYO - A Japanese scientist said Thursday his team has cracked open a method to improve the production of carbon-free energy - by using proteins taken from egg white. Yusuke Yamada, a professor at Osaka City University, said his team has managed to use protein from egg white as a “tool” for producing hydrogen, a powerful source of clean electricity.

The new method “brings us closer to our ultimate goal of producing hydrogen from water,” Yamada told AFP.

“This lays the groundwork for the clean production of hydrogen in the future,” added the scientist.

When it reacts with oxygen, hydrogen produces electricity, releasing only water and heat in the process.

But hydrogen is currently mass-produced using natural gas or fossil fuels, which themselves result in harmful emissions. It can be produced in labs without fossil fuels and scientists have traditionally done this by creating a special interaction of the molecules in liquid, explained Yamada.